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'Misstatements' It's reached the point where we are truly wondering what it is with these public figures who feel the need to exaggerate their military record and/or the dangers they have faced in the line of duty. The latest is Robert McDonald, secretary of Veterans Affairs, who was conversing with a homeless Special Forces vet at a charity event and made the claim that he, too, had been Special Forces. He wasn't. Secretary McDonald graduated from West Point and served in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, but he was never a part of the elite Special Forces. When this was pointed out, Secretary McDonald apologized and said he had "reacted...

Related "Armed Forces" Articles

'Misstatements'
It's reached the point where we are truly wondering what it is with these public figures who feel the need to exaggerate their military record and/or the dangers they have faced in the line of duty.
The latest is Robert McDonald,...

All but 100 of the remaining 1,300 U.S. troops who deployed to West Africa in response to the Ebola outbreak will be home by April 30, the president announced Wednesday.
That includes a group of about 60 soldiers from the 53rd Transportation Movement...

Typically this blog spotlights local, contemporary writers. But while cleaning out the shelves of the Daily Press library a few months back, I discovered a couple treasures to commemorate Black History Month. These books, written by Hampton Roads...

NEWPORT NEWS — As the small detachment of Fort Eustis soldiers arrived home late Tuesday night, one voice rang above all others. Above the cheers from family members who hadn't seen their loved ones in nine months. Above the music of the band trumpeting...

If the Pentagon wants to convene another round of military base closings, it must clear a congressional subcommittee chaired by Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland.
Wittman will be a tough sell. He says there is no appetite in Congress for another Base...

A former Newport News soldier is now the Army's top enlisted officer.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey was sworn into his new office Friday by Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno.
Dailey, 42, is the youngest soldier ever to serve in the...

Top U.S. leaders and members of Congress reacted cautiously Thursday to the recommendations of an independent panel to change the military's retirement and health care systems.
The proposals, which would save more than $20 billion over the next four...

In 2013, defense budget cuts sent shivers through the Hampton Roads economy, and on Wednesday a Senate panel discussed the possibility of returning to those bad old days.
If that happens, the military could see some of its most highly trained operatives,...

Norfolk's namesake submarine was inactivated last week during a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk.
The Los Angeles-class attack sub was commissioned in 1983 and built at Newport News Shipbuilding. It will remain in Norfolk until January to begin the...

Sen. Tim Kaine stepped inside a training simulator at Fort Eustis on Thursday and deftly piloted a small Army craft through the water.
This kind of realistic training — complete with three-dimensional images and weather that gets nasty at the touch of...

The U.S. Navy is investigating a locally-based squadron's helicopter crash at Camp Buehring, Kuwait.
All six crewmembers aboard the helicopter survived the crash and have been transported to nearby medical facilities for evaluation, according to a...

Sen. Kaine has been named the top Democrat on a key panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Subcommittee on Readiness deals with resources for shipyards, military construction projects and whether bases should be shifted or closed. Overall,...

At the reluctant direction of President Barack Obama, the United States on Tuesday finally launched airstrikes against targets in Syria, effectively expanding our theater of operations in the Middle East.This was not a step the president wanted to take...

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, came up short Tuesday in his bid to chair the powerful House Armed Services Committee, with Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas getting the nod.Forbes faced an uphill fight against Thornberry, who was the committee's vice...

Newport News
World War I exhibit. Nov. 9, 1 p.m., the Virginia War Museum, 9285 Warwick Blvd., Newport News, opens a new exhibit, "Artillery on the Western Front: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive 1918," which marks the 100th anniversary of World War...

November 5, 2014 marked an historic date, as 97 year-old Atlantic Shores Retirement Community resident Doris Baker was inducted as an Honorary Member of the Special Forces Regiment, recognizing her 20 years of service with the 1/10th Special Forces...

HAMPTON — Ninety service members have arrived at Langley Air Force Base from deployments to Ebola-riddled West Africa to undergo a mandatory 21-day isolation before returning to their families.
The troops arrived just after 1 p.m. Thursday, according...

Same-sex couples apply for marriage licenses in stateSame-sex marriage is now taking place in Virginia for the first time in the state's more than 400-year history, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the issue. In a surprise...